Tag: love

This collection of writings and recipes traces the arc of a love deeply lived and gently released. Each piece captures a moment, like polaroids on a kitchen table, paired with a recipe from my former co-conspirator, his way of telling our story through food.

Together, we form a diary in flavour and feeling, for anyone who has cooked, cried, laughed, left, and remembered.

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Oleleshrooms

(Mushroom and Spinach Ragout on Fusilli)

“I tell you what,” he said jokingly as he wiped his lip. “In my next life, I’m gonna be a cook.”

– To the Cook

Ingredients:

• Fusilli pasta, pre-cooked al dente, drizzled with olive oil and set aside
• Mixed wild mushrooms (any available; include Chinese tree mushrooms if possible)
• Baby spinach leaves, washed, dried, and torn into smaller pieces
• Onions, finely chopped
• Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 glass dry red wine
• Brown sauce mix
• Hungarian spice mix
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Parmesan cheese
• Sour cream
• Fresh parsley (for garnish)
• Freshly ground black pepper (for serving)

Instructions:

1. Pre-cook fusilli until al dente, drizzle with olive oil, and set aside.
2. Sauté onions and garlic in a pan until golden brown.
3. Add the mushrooms and spinach; stir thoroughly.
4. Pour in the red wine, then add brown sauce mix, Hungarian spice mix, salt, and pepper.
5. Cook until the sauce thickens.
6. Stir in parmesan cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle parsley on top.
7. Place the fusilli in a pasta dish and spoon the ragout over it.
8. Offer freshly ground black pepper at the table.

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From Lion’s Gate, With Love

(Pizza)

“In the hush between lifetimes,
I found you. By finding myself.

Thirty-five years ahead
and somehow, we arrived together.”

– Daddy’s Girl

Ingredients:

• 1 pizza base
  • Base sauce:
    • Tomato purée
    • Salt
    • Pepper
    • Chopped garlic
    • Crushed dried chillies
    • Italian spice mix
    • Dash of Habanero sauce
  • Fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • Onion, sliced
  • ½ avocado, sliced
  • 1 packet shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 18 Calamata olives
  • Baby spinach leaves, washed, dried, and chopped

Preparation:

1. Precook the mushrooms, drain excess liquid, and set aside.
2. Prepare the base sauce by mixing tomato purée, salt, pepper, chopped garlic, crushed dried chillies, Italian spice mix, and a dash of Habanero sauce in a small dish. Set aside.
3. Slice fresh mushrooms and onions, and half an avocado.

Instructions:

1. Spread the prepared sauce evenly over the pizza base.
2. Layer mushrooms, spinach, and onions over the sauce.
3. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, then evenly place avocado slices and olives on top.
4. Bake in the oven at 200°C for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is molten and medium brown.
5. Transfer to a flat pizza plate and cut into eight equal slices with a roller cutter.
6. Offer freshly ground black pepper at the table.

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Orgasmic

(Fresh, warm liquid eggs from the tap)

“Small rituals of belonging to you.

One. No perfume.”

– Devotion

Ingredients:

• Trust
• Patience
• Tenderness
• Presence

Instructions:

1. Offer without hesitation.
2. Let it flow freely.
3. Savour with open senses and an open heart.
4. No utensils or seasoning needed.

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Daddy’s Rice

(Spicy Rice and a Medley of Veggies)

“And then, that smile that always comes before your honesty:

“I don’t believe in God — But I’ve borrowed my father’s truth:
Help yourself, so help you God.” “

– Who Tends To The Gardener?

Ingredients:

• Long-grain rice, cooked until al dente and set aside
• Onions, finely chopped
• Garlic, finely chopped
• Crispy pre-fried onions
• Fresh vegetables (any available, similar to stir-fry vegetables), sliced
• Butter (for sautéing vegetables)
• Vegetable oil
• Hot curry powder
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt
• White pepper
• Vegetable stock powder
• Habanero sauce (to taste)
• Freshly ground black pepper (for serving)

Preparation:

1. Cook the rice until al dente and set aside.
2. Finely chop onions and garlic.
3. Slice fresh vegetables of your choice (similar to stir-fry vegetables), sauté them in butter, keep warm, and set aside.

Instructions:

1. In a pan, heat vegetable oil and add both the raw and crispy pre-fried onions along with garlic. Fry until the onions start to brown.
2. Add the cooked rice and mix with the onion mixture.
3. Season with hot curry powder, cayenne pepper, salt, white pepper, vegetable stock powder, and Habanero sauce to taste.
4. Mix thoroughly, then plate the rice on a flat dish.
5. Arrange the sautéed vegetables on top and offer freshly ground black pepper.

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Between the Buns

(Burger)

“I surrendered — arching, trembling, gripping, dissolving.

Room became sky, and I — Ocean.”

– Vanilla

Ingredients:

• Mayonnaise
• Lemon juice
• Creamed horseradish
• Ketchup
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper
• Dill
• Large sesame burger bun (halved)
• Tomatoes, thinly sliced
• Pickled gherkins, thinly sliced
• Onions, thinly sliced
• Crispy lettuce leaves, washed and dried
• 1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
• 2 slices Emmenthaler cheese
• Mushrooms, sliced
• Red wine (a few dashes)
• Hot water (small amount)
• Brown sauce (or a stock cube dissolved in water)
• Tabasco Sriracha sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Mix mayonnaise with lemon juice, creamed horseradish, ketchup, salt, cayenne pepper, and dill. Set aside.
2. Lightly toast both halves of the sesame burger bun and set aside.
3. Prepare the toppings: slice tomatoes, pickled gherkins, onions, and the hard-boiled egg. Set aside the lettuce leaves and Emmenthaler cheese slices.
4. In a small pan, cook sliced mushrooms with a few dashes of red wine. Add a little hot water and stir in brown sauce (or a dissolved stock cube). Season with salt and pepper, and cook until the sauce thickens.

Instructions:

1. Spread the prepared pink sauce over each toasted bun half.
2. Layer with lettuce, tomato, gherkin, onion, and egg slices.
3. Spoon over the thickened mushroom sauce, then place the cheese slices on top.
4. Air-fry both halves at 200°C for about 1 minute, or until the cheese begins to melt.
5. Finish with red dots of Tabasco Sriracha and offer freshly ground black pepper.

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Le-love-le

(Mixed Salad)

“But when he looked at her in that boyish way, full of humour and mischief, she could not resist. Her face shone as she shook her head and laughed generously. It was a warm laughter that took over her whole body.”

– Mine

Dressing (prepare in advance):

• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt
• White pepper
• White sugar
• Dash of water
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese
• Crushed garlic

Salad Ingredients:

• Tomatoes, sliced
• Cucumber, sliced
• Freshly boiled egg, sliced
• Onions, sliced
• Coleslaw (generous portion)
• Optional: crispy lettuce, cubed spanspek melon (refreshing in summer), Emmenthaler cheese

Instructions:

1. Prepare the dressing in advance and set aside.
2. Slice the salad ingredients and combine them in the dressing.
3. Toss gently to coat, then serve in a deep bowl.
4. Offer freshly ground black pepper at the table.

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Lelelicious

(Stir-fry)

“The landscape below stretched open in worship. Sunlight rested tenderly over the Creation of a Holy God. On the wall above the bed, a singular Chinese fan opened like a celestial wing – part shade, part sentinel, part grace.

Life breathed into the room, slow and sacred. The space had a mythic stillness, as if time bent slightly around it.”

– Swords

Ingredients:

• Penne (or spaghetti), pre-cooked and set aside
• Mushrooms, sliced (slightly chunky)
• Onions, sliced (slightly chunky)
• Red peppers, sliced (slightly chunky)
• Yellow peppers, sliced (slightly chunky)
• Fresh red chillies, sliced (slightly chunky)
• Baby marrows, sliced (slightly chunky)
• Petit pans, sliced (slightly chunky)
• Baby spinach leaves, washed and dried

Spices & Sauces:

• Green Kikkoman soy sauce
• Conimex Ketjap Manis
• Hot curry powder
• Habanero sauce
• Chopped garlic
• Salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat vegetable oil in a wok to 200°C.
2. Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms; sauté briefly.
3. Add spinach and stir until softened.
4. Add remaining vegetables.
5. Season with the spices and sauces to taste, then add the penne.
6. Stir thoroughly for about 5 minutes, keeping the vegetables and pasta al dente.
7. Serve in a large bowl and offer freshly ground black pepper.

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SpagMex

(Spaghetti topped with a Mexican Delight)

“Love is rhythm. A remembering.

I watched you remember every day—

In how you fed the animals,

spoke to the flame, answered your mother’s voice.

In how you held the past without flinching.”

– Duty

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti
• Olive oil
• Tomato purée
• Onions, chopped
• Garlic, chopped
• Fresh red chillies, chopped
• Yellow and red peppers, sliced
• White wine (a dash)
• Brown sauce powder
• Mexican spice mix
• Salt
• Parmesan cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

• Pre-cook spaghetti until al dente.
• Toss with olive oil to prevent sticking and set aside.
• In a pot, combine tomato purée, chopped onions, garlic, fresh red chillies, sliced yellow and red peppers, a dash of white wine, brown sauce powder, Mexican spice mix, and salt.

Instructions:

1. Cook the sauce in the pot until thickened.
2. Place the spaghetti in a pasta bowl and reheat briefly in the microwave.
3. Top with the thickened sauce and finish with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
4. Offer freshly ground black pepper at the table.

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Eggs on a “Sdick”

(Fried Eggs on Pretzel Stick for Breakfast)

“They sat in a deliberate silence at the table as the flames of six candles danced in mock romance, illuminating the tension beneath the surface of the air around them. She spoke first.”

– Goose & Gander

Ingredients:

• Salted pretzel stick
• Garlic and chili butter
• 2 large eggs
• Hot curry powder
• Fresh parsley

Preparation:

• Air-fry the pretzel stick until soft inside and slightly crispy outside.
• Spread garlic and chili butter evenly on each half of the pretzel stick.

Instructions:

1. Fry two large eggs, cooking the whites fully while keeping the yolks runny.
2. Place the fried eggs on top of the buttered pretzel halves.
3. Sprinkle hot curry powder and fresh parsley on top before serving.

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Bubbles and Berries

“Use my name when you tell the story.”

– Any Woman

Ingredients:

• Bottle of sparkling wine
• Raspberries
• Blueberries

Preparation:

• Pre-chill the bottle of sparkling wine.
• Wash and prepare raspberries and blueberries.

Instructions:

1. Serve the sparkling wine in a Champagne flute.
2. Enjoy alongside fresh raspberries and blueberries, especially refreshing in summer.

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9.8.25